My Cal 40 experiences

When I purchased my 1966 Cal 40 in 2007 I had no idea what it was except the biggest fiberglass sailboat I could get for the money I had at the time. Lady luck was with me that day because the great experiences just keep coming. First I learned that my boat Kismet won the Vic Maui in 1996 with Charlie Guildner as captain. Then I found out about the Sailboat Hall of fame nomination - "the boat that changed everything". I was in awe. While working on the boat I called Northwest Rigging and talked with Andy Schwenk - who started laughing and said he proposed to his wife aboard Kismet. Kismet so inspired my family that we sold the house and moved aboard, we sailed the Pacific Northwest, lower sound, upper sound and San Juan islands all last summer. We met Andy Schwenk as he yelled from another passing sailboat. We met Charlie and his wife in Friday harbor and he told me his Dad originally owned the boat and he literally grew up on her. Everywhere you go someone knows Kismet, has sailed on Kismet or lost to Kismet in a race. Other's simply ask "is that a Cal 40"? and smile when you say yes. Even my Dentist sailed Cal 40's and still raves about it. This summer we head to the Canadian Gulf Islands and Desolation Sound. People look in awe as you glide into a slip while trying to get the engine controls in reverse and work the huge tiller at the same time. I absolutely love the tiller setup and the tiller pilot works great when motoring. Just prop your self up at the back of the 8 ft long cockpit and watch the world slip by. Kismet is extremely well balanced and the tiller is always light and extremely responsive. Backing up is the only time the tiller fails to do anything. Completely inexperienced sailors, such as my wife and I, have no problem getting her to sail at 8.5 knots. The Genny alone often gets us past 7 knots. That speed gets you places. On calm days we use our tiny 28 hp Yanmar diesel and cruise at 5 knots, the entire summer we burned only 40 gallons of fuel. In 1966, there was the GTO, the Camaro, the Mustang and the Cal 40. It was a year for fun new designs, power, speed and winning. I think there is something magical about Cal 40's that transcends the fiberglass, plywood and teak. I invite the other Cal 40 owners to add in there "magical cal 40" stories. Thanks Keith and the crew of Kismet

cal40kismet wrote: > > > In 1966, there was the GTO, the Camaro, the Mustang and the Cal 40. > It was a year for fun new designs, power, speed and winning. > Now, 43 years later, which of those devices is still effective and useful and still pretty contemporary in terms of function? Don't get me wrong, I like old cars, but a 1966 anything is ancient history, while the Cal 40 keeps on going. > > I think > there is something magical about Cal 40's that transcends the > fiberglass, plywood and teak. > Even my half of the Cal 40, the Cal 20, evokes the same feeling. Chris Campbell > > >

Somewhere in my photo archives, I have a photo of a Cal 40 Bell Aurora sailing alongside one of the Volvo Ocean Race boats from the last race when they were here on the Chesapeake that is a great contrast shot of the evolution of ocean racers . .?. for better or worse depending on your point of view. Paul From: Chris Campbell <cl… [at] charterinternet.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 4:08 pm Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] My Cal 40 experiences cal40kismet wrote: In 1966, there was the GTO, the Camaro, the Mustang and the Cal 40. It was a year for fun new designs, power, speed and winning. Now, 43 years later, which of those devices? is still effective and useful and still pretty contemporary in terms of function?? Don't get me wrong, I like old cars, but a 1966 anything is ancient history, while the Cal 40 keeps on going.? I think there is something magical about Cal 40's that transcends the fiberglass, plywood and teak. Even my half of the Cal 40, the Cal 20, evokes the same feeling.? Chris Campbell

pw… [at] aol.com wrote: > > Somewhere in my photo archives, I have a photo of a Cal 40 Bell Aurora > sailing alongside one of the Volvo Ocean Race boats from the last race > when they were here on the Chesapeake that is a great contrast shot of > the evolution of ocean racers . . . for better or worse depending on > your point of view. > There's something to be said for pushing the existing boundaries in design and materials. That's how things get tested and evaluated and then filter down to us ordinary folks. But there's also something to be said for boats that ordinary folks can race and cruise in, safely and efficiently and with some reasonable degree of economy. They really are separate categories of boats. There's room for both. It might be fun to sail on one of those Volvo race boats, but I'm not obsessed with them and don't much follow who wins what. Most professional sports are dollar contests and it's just not as interesting as things we can do ourselves. You can sit around and watch other people sail, or you can go sailing. I know which I'd rather do. Now there is a third category of boats. You have the evolved America's Cup boats, fragile little things that break in half id a powerboat wake comes by, and that cannot sail except in a very narrow range of winds. My whole idea of sailing is that the boat must be able to take what the weather gives you. "Fair weather sailors" has always been a term of derision. Yuck. Chris Campbell > > > . > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >

I watched the last Americas Cup with great interest since Terry Hutchinson went to school with my wife and one of the guys in our club taught him to sail as a young kid.? I am pretty disgusted with it these days and was even more disgusted to learn what you mentioned about only sailing if the wind was between 7 to 17kts or something ridiculous like that.? I love the VOR boats and to me, the guys that sail them are the "real men" of sailing.? Taking new technology to its absolute limits at speeds most powerboats can't achieve in waves most of us have never seen.? My favorite quote from one of the crew members when describing the stresses these boats are exposed to was "imagine driving a Mack truck off a 3-story building every couple of minutes".? These guys sail in everything.? The last leg was upwind in 14 meter waves and 50kt winds.? Yes there was damage but 4 out of the 7 boats were able to make repairs on their own and finish the leg.? Several years ago we came upon a boat in our boat yard the we knew was out of place.? It was 68' long, dark blue, aluminum, with dual wheels and a hailing port of New Zealand.? After standing outside of it trying to figure out what it was, the owner popped up our of the companionway and gave us a tour of the boat.? The boat was Ceramco,??Peter Blake's boat that he raced the Whitbread on!? The interior?had been modified for cruising but it was still very fast.??This family bought old race boats and used them to cruise as they liked to sail fast.? They have since sold Ceramco and are now cruising on a 79 foot race boat Kiola (sp?).? I don't think they can continue this trend with the VOR boats however. Paul From: Chris Campbell <cl… [at] charterinternet.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 4:36 pm Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] My Cal 40 experiences pw… [at] aol.com wrote: Somewhere in my photo archives, I have a photo of a Cal 40 Bell Aurora sailing alongside one of the Volvo Ocean Race boats from the last race when they were here on the Chesapeake that is a great contrast shot of the evolution of ocean racers . .?. for better or worse depending on your point of view. There's something to be said for pushing the existing boundaries in design and materials.? That's how things get tested and evaluated and then filter down to us ordinary folks. But there's also something to be said for boats that ordinary folks can race and cruise in, safely and efficiently and with some reasonable degree of economy.? They really are separate categories of boats.? There's room for both. It might be fun to sail on one of those Volvo race boats, but I'm not obsessed with them and don't much follow who wins what.? Most professional sports are dollar contests and it's just not as interesting as things we can do ourselves.? You can sit around and watch other people sail, or you can go sailing.? I know which I'd rather do. Now there is a third category of boats.? You have the evolved America's Cup boats, fragile little things that break in half id a powerboat wake comes by, and that cannot sail except in a very narrow range of winds.? My whole idea of sailing is that the boat must be able to take what the weather gives you.? "Fair weather sailors" has always been a term of derision.? Yuck.? Chris Campbell ..

pw… [at] aol.com wrote: > > > I love the VOR boats and to me, the guys that sail them are the "real > men" of sailing. Taking new technology to its absolute limits at > speeds most powerboats can't achieve in waves most of us have never > seen. My favorite quote from one of the crew members when describing > the stresses these boats are exposed to was "imagine driving a Mack > truck off a 3-story building every couple of minutes". These guys > sail in everything. > This is where we are the ultimate beneficiaries. This is real sailing, taking whatever the weather delivers, and if it works for them, it'll probably work on my little boats when the price point drops far enough. Still, it's not the sort of thing I want to sit around watching (especially the dropping of price points). Sailing is fun when you're doing it and not so much fun when you're watching it. Chris Campbell > >

Thanks for a great read, Keith. Wish I could join the ranks of the 40 skippers... maybe in my next life. Keep this stuff coming, I haven't been sailing in a month and a half and i'm getting cranky. Wilkie On Feb 13, 2009, at 12:37 PM, cal40kismet wrote: > When I purchased my 1966 Cal 40 in 2007 I had no idea what it was > except the biggest fiberglass sailboat I could get for the money I had > at the time. Lady luck was with me that day because the great > experiences just keep coming. > > First I learned that my boat Kismet won the Vic Maui in 1996 with > Charlie Guildner as captain. Then I found out about the Sailboat Hall > of fame nomination - "the boat that changed everything". I was in awe. > > While working on the boat I called Northwest Rigging and talked with > Andy Schwenk - who started laughing and said he proposed to his wife > aboard Kismet. > > Kismet so inspired my family that we sold the house and moved aboard, > we sailed the Pacific Northwest, lower sound, upper sound and San Juan > islands all last summer. We met Andy Schwenk as he yelled from > another passing sailboat. We met Charlie and his wife in Friday > harbor and he told me his Dad originally owned the boat and he > literally grew up on her. Everywhere you go someone knows Kismet, has > sailed on Kismet or lost to Kismet in a race. Other's simply ask "is > that a Cal 40"? and smile when you say yes. Even my Dentist sailed > Cal 40's and still raves about it. This summer we head to the Canadian > Gulf Islands and Desolation Sound. > > People look in awe as you glide into a slip while trying to get the > engine controls in reverse and work the huge tiller at the same time. > I absolutely love the tiller setup and the tiller pilot works great > when motoring. Just prop your self up at the back of the 8 ft long > cockpit and watch the world slip by. Kismet is extremely well balanced > and the tiller is always light and extremely responsive. Backing up > is the only time the tiller fails to do anything. > > Completely inexperienced sailors, such as my wife and I, have no > problem getting her to sail at 8.5 knots. The Genny alone often gets > us past 7 knots. That speed gets you places. On calm days we use our > tiny 28 hp Yanmar diesel and cruise at 5 knots, the entire summer we > burned only 40 gallons of fuel. > > In 1966, there was the GTO, the Camaro, the Mustang and the Cal 40. > It was a year for fun new designs, power, speed and winning. I think > there is something magical about Cal 40's that transcends the > fiberglass, plywood and teak. > > I invite the other Cal 40 owners to add in there "magical cal 40" > stories. > > Thanks > Keith and the crew of Kismet > > >

I agree Paul. Here is a quote from another ocean racing skipper " To sail slowly or inefficiently is to be unseamanlike. The sea demands efficiency, and to be timid or indecisive is to invite disaster." Ted Jones Dave --- On Fri, 2/13/09, pw… [at] aol.com <pw… [at] aol.com> wrote: From

David Brown wrote: > > I agree Paul. > Here is a quote from another ocean racing skipper " To sail slowly or > inefficiently is to be unseamanlike. The sea demands efficiency, and > to be timid or indecisive is to invite disaster." Ted Jones > Except that speed is not the sole criterion for seamanship. Getting back alive counts for a lot. I guess that's the difference between the Volvo race boats and the recent America's Cup delicate things. The Volvo boats usually get home again. The America's Cup boats find this problemmatic--they have to hope that the wind doesn't blow very much. There's no doubt that they are efficient, if one defines efficiency as sailing as fast as possible in a given wind and sea state, but they're not efficient, if you define it to mean capable of conveying the crew from one point to another safely in any reasonably anticipated conditions. I read an article by Ted Brewer last night in which he said that he lost interest in offshore racing when the boats began carrying advertising and the crews were all professionals. One of his criteria for efficiency is reasonable safety and comfort at sea. The professional guys are like professional commercial or military sailors of the 19th and earlier centuries. They are not paid to be comfortable. The boat's motion, using a hull optimized for speed, is not likely to be comfortable in really bad conditions. So my conclusion is that Volvo race boats give us amateur folks the advantage of a testing ground for new technology that may, if it's successful, trickle down to us. The America's Cup boats give us... something... maybe if we all think a while, we can think of something. Chris Campbell > > > > >